Labour MP ‘disappointed’ with Welsh Government over ‘power grab’ deal

18th May 2018

The Labour Party in the Assembly have attracted criticism from one of their own MPs over their decision to allow Westminster to intercept powers in devolved areas after Brexit.

Newport West Paul Flynn told Golwg magazine that he agreed with party leader Jeremy Corbyn that the Welsh Government should have resisted the ‘power grab’ as Labour had done in Scotland.

“I stand shoulder to shoulder with Jeremy Corbyn,” he said. “It’s disappointing that the Assembly isn’t adopting the same attitude towards the bill as the Scottish Parliament.

“I believe we should continue to regard it as a power grab. The entire idea of taking powers… they say the powers are only going for a while but there’s no guarantee I don’t think that the powers will come back.

“As a devolutionist, I want to see more powers coming to the Assembly, not fewer and not a threat to the powers we have at the moment.”

The deal offered by Westminster came with a promise that the powers would be held for no more than seven years and that the devolved legislatures would need to give their consent to any changes.

However, it was later revealed that Westminster would not require consent and could not ensure that future governments returned the powers.

Although critical of the deal, Paul Flynn said that it was possible that Brexit would boost devolution in the long run.

“I believe that devolution will move on… perhaps Brexit will be a boost to devolution,” he said. People will see how awful the consequences of Brexit are.

“I believe that it will have consequences and will create an economy that will be a nightmare for all of us, in Wales and Scotland.”

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